Sick day?
by TheCresantMoonWolf
Summary: Nod, who is stubborn, decides that it would be a good idea to hide a 'cold' from his guardian. Sadly the 'cold' is not the only thing he is hiding. Along with being sick, his doubts and fears cloud his judgement of trust which endangers his life. A little story about Nod being sick and Ronin being a awesome father. Cause there are not enough of these stories. Enjoy


**HIIIIIIIIIIIII Well... I decided to make a Father/Son moment thing with Ronin and Nod, where Nod is sick... because there are no stories where he is sick.**

**Also one quick note, Ronin adopted Nod when Soren (His father) died... yeah I don't know Nod's fathers name. So that makes Nod the youngest in the leafmen because quite honestly He seems like it in the movies . So without further ado here you go! Enjoy! :) **

The summer sun shown through the early dusk that was known as morning and gifted its glance at a small sleeping figure on the bed making the time known. Nod woke with a groan and rolled over his body protesting with each breath he took. To put it lightly he felt crappy, his head hurt, he was dizzy and felt as if he was in his underwear in the dead of winter. After a half hour he made his way to the kitchen to get something to eat to tide him over till he was able to have lunch. Grabbing a piece of bread he made his way out the door and to his faithful sparrow, Cricket. Cricket may have been an old sparrow but she knew when their was something wrong with her rider she chirped in greeting before nudging her head gently against his armor. She could feel the heat and shivers that was making his body tremble and let out a low keening sound.

"I know girl, let's just hope Ronin leaves me alone today, its not like he really notices if anything is wrong with me either " Nod winced as his words sounded raspy even to him. Cricket agreed with a soft peck of her beak against his chest plate. She knew the General meant no harm but even to her she knew anything, training, or punishment he gave her rider would make him worse. She lowered herself low to the ground to make it easy for him to slide in the saddle.

"Its probably a cold now lets go, I don't want to have the old badger on my tail again for being late"

With that he slid gently into the saddle and flew off towards the Leafmen barracks.

* * *

Ronin frowned, it was the second time that week that Nod had been late and usually the boy was only late once a month at the most. Despite the young Jinn's free nature he had a nack for being as stubborn and time "gifted" as his father once was. '_Soren if only you could give me a hint as to how to raise him, he's as time "gifted" as you were'_

"Sir!" Ronin looked over to his left in the cove to nesting to see Finn, his captain, resting on the wall beside him. Finn chuckled at the look his General was giving him and shook his head.

"It's the second time this week Finn... I swear the boy is going for a record." Finn laughed quietly into his fist to avoid attention from the other leafmen around them.

"Ahh Ronin relax the kid's been down more than usual its been at least five weeks since the boggan battle. And repairs have been going on non stop." Ronin sighed as his friend made a point, the repairs around Moonhaven were taking longer than usual due to the fact that young Queen Marigold was trying her best with her new given powers and that she had yet to fully harness them. Turning his attention back to the opening of the nesting; blue eyes narrowed in on a figure riding an old bird that was surely past its prime. With a a small hop the bird landed safely and crooned towards her rider, her reward was a grub and a quick rub on her head.

Steeling his gaze Ronin lifted his chin up at his ward,

"Nod your on patrol now, go with Finn and get your bird." Nod gave a quick shake of the head to show he heard and walked toward the leafmen Captain who was at the wall. Finn smiled and gave the kid a small clap on the back.

"Nice to see ya kid, thought you were carried off by the wind." Nod smiled through the pain and forced a laugh.

"Ehh I'm not that light I can hold off my own" Finn chuckled and shook his head as the young Jinn made his way over towards the hummingbirds that were anxious to get out for their morning flight. His gaze narrowed in on the young leafmen with the hoarse voice and pale skin. _'Strange...'_

Nod stifled a groan as he stumbled his vision playing football with his head and quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen it._ 'Great just great not only am I dizzy but now I am suddenly clumsy too!...' _ With a grunt he swung his way onto the saddle and took off after the other leafmen ahead of him. Unbeknownst to him a certain Captain Jinn was watching with a concerned gaze.

_'Somethings not right with Nod... and I'm going to find out'_

The day was sunny and windy, a perfect combination for a patrol out on the outskirts of Moonhaven. Ronin looked around as he flew by the patrol making sure that everything was in order before looking out in front of him to scan the area. He frowned as an unsettled feeling began to make its way to the surface of his thoughts. _' somethings not right... boggans haven't show their rotting faces here in over five weeks...' _ As his thought was finished Finn flew up to him with a look he has seen before.

"Finn see anything?" Finn shook his head and gazed out at the group before setting on one slightly slumped figure on their hummingbird.

"No sir, no reports of Boggan activity at all... But..." At this Ronin raised his eyebrow,

"But?" Finn sughed and shook his head.

"But there is one young leafmen that concerns me right now." Ronin shook his head, as he looked at his friend with a look of 'tell me now I know who it is'

"Sir I have this feeling that something isn't right..."

"I know I have it too" Finn looked visibly relieved that he wasn't alone.

"Nod concerns me, he hasn't been himself in a few days and if you noticed earlier when he landed in, his face was pale and his cheeks were flushed." Ronin's eyes narrowed and left their gaze from his friend to the young leafmen on the side of the patrol. From where he was, he could see Nod was slumped and an almost unnoticeable shaking was present.

"I can see your concern, keep an eye on him... make sure if he gets worse to bring him back from patrol and keep your eye out for trouble. I'm heading back to deal with some problems that need to be sorted out." Finn nodded and saluted before flying back to his squad to make sure they were in line.

Nod shook his head to try and clear the dizziness from his mind, it was making it harder to pay attention and scout the area for any sign of rot. '_Common Nod focus! You can do this, its just a little cold.'_ his mind focused on the mantra of you can do it before he had to stifle a cough. He took in a shuddering breath before one of his comrads flew closer to him.

"Yo Nod you okay? You don't seem yourself flyboy" The Jinn who asked was older than Nod by only a few years. He was tall and broad and his green eyes were piercing towards anyone who would hurt his fellow leafmen. Nod took a few seconds before looking over to his right, and saw that indeed the Jinn was looking at him with curiosity.

"I'm fine Thorin, nothing can get me down. Besides I think Ronin is looking your way" At that Thorin snapped back at attention and left Nod alone. Nod chuckled, after all the perfect way to get people to leave him alone is to mention Ronin looking at them. It always worked.

The sun was starting to rise higher in the sky signaling the end of their patrol. They had circled Moonhaven point and started to head their way back to headquarters for a break before training.

Nod however was starting to regret coming in on patrol. The shaking was getting worse and harder to hide, his dizzyness came back tenfold and now was shaking his vision up like a berry smoothie. He felt cold under all his layers and armor. He shook his head once more to try to get his vision back on track but instead only made it worse. He felt his body slipping out of the saddle as everything faded to black.

Finn was concerned, no scratch that he was very concerned. A certain trainee he had grown fond of was the source of it all. All throughout patrol he had a shaking feeling that something was about to go wrong, terribly terribly wrong. A few minutes in and he was right, as he slowed his hummingbird down to check back on his squad he did a head count and his heart nearly stopped at the sight of a leg slipping off of an, now empty, saddle. The hummingbird gave a shrill shout at the weight of her master suddenly disappearing from her back, before racing down towards her master and barely catching him with her beak before trying to keep him from going splat on the ground below. Everything resorted to chaos from there,

"Nod!" He raced towards the limp figure in the birds beak trying to get to him as fast as he could. He pushed his humming bird as fast as he could go before he quickly stopped him at a hover. He reached out to let the young hummingbird know her master would be safe with him and let out a small puff of air as Nod was lowered in his arms. Finn closed his eyes before taking a breath and settled the lithe Jinn on his saddle, snug between chest and arms, he felt the heat seep through to his armor and knew he needed to get Nod back fast. He turned his bird back to the ranks who had stopped and were now looking in concern at the youngest in their group. Finn looked at them with a steely gaze before settling on Thorin.

"Thorin sound the horn" Thorin nodded before releasing the horn from his belt and let loose a long loud sound that echoed chillingly. Finn raced forward as fast as he could go making sure that the precious cargo he held was safe. '_hold on Nod...'_

* * *

Ronin knew something was wrong as soon as he heard the horn, signaling injured needed attention. He desperately hoped it wasn't his young ward that was the cause of it as he raced towards the entrance of the nesting landing. His fears weren't quelled as his blue eyes settled on the limp figure cradled in the captains arms.

"General Ronin, he needs help... now" Were the only words he got from the disgruntled captain before he raced forward and took Nod from Finn's arms. The green helmet that all leafmen wore was gone which gave Ronin a clear view of the flushed face covered in a cold sweat. "Nod..." Ronin turned and started to run towards the infirmary. _'Hold on kid...'_

Head nurse Jinn Lilabell was feeling great until she heard the horn for injured. She raced around barking orders making sure everything was in order for when the injured leafmen arrived. As she heard running footsteps she went to the entry way and almost gasped as General Ronin came into view. She was surprised that the normally calm and collected General now looked frantic. She was more surprised that in his arms was the injured Jinn. Collecting her self the Lilac Jinn went forward and guided the General to a bed where he gently laid down the boy on the bed. Lilabell then proceeded to take off the armor only giving a small thanks when the General helped in the removal of the leaf plates. After a few minuets had passed Lilabell motioned for a rose Jinn to help with vitals. As she observed the young rose Jinn she turned back to the General.

"General Ronin Do you know what happened? He's clearly not injured-"

"No he has a high fever thats what!" Lilabell turned towards the rose Jinn with a surprised expression before walking over and placing her hand on the unconscious teens head. Her eyes shot up in concern at the heat radiating from his body. And shouted for someone to get ice packs to place over his body.

"General Ronin again do you know how he got this fever?" Ronin shook his head his face imbued with concern for the teen he thought of as a son.

"No I don't he seemed fine this morning, the only hint was that he was acting strange the past few days." Just then Finn raced in his breathing heavy as he stopped and took in the sight before him. His General talking to the nurse and flower and tree Jinn racing around placing ice-packs on and beside Nod's body.

"Nurse Lilabell I think I know, we went out on patrol this morning as usual and Nod was acting slightly strange, So I kept an eye on him. He seemed fine until we circled Moonhaven point which was when I heard his hummingbird give a shrill shout before diving down and catching him with her beak. When I caught him I could feel heat seeping through his armor onto mine." At this the nurse grew concerned, a fever that high could have killed anyone.. especially if it made them faint. She looked at the boy surrounded by ice and sent up a prayer.

"He's lucky... Now out you two! I need to tend to him and my other paitents without you two worrying around him shoo!" She coerced the Captain and General out of the room before facing the young teen on the bed.

"Alright! I want a drip with fluids in him, and the coldest ice bath we can get, now go!"

Ronin collapsed on the bench in the changing rooms and placed his head in his hands. A shuddering sigh escaped his mouth as he tried to stay calm. The leafman across from him gazed in concern at his friend.

"Ronin the kids going to be fine, He's stubborn like that. Remember when he was shot with a Boggan arrow? He was up within 3 days even though he should have been in bed. The kid's tough"

Ronin gave a small chuckle at that. It was true, Nod was as stubborn as his father even when injured. They were called out on a small skirmish at Berryhill where Boggans attacked them. Nod was shot protecting a berry Jinn from fire and ended up in the infirmary for a week no matter how hard the kid tried to escape on day three.

"Yes ,your right Finn... but still! He concerns me so much that I swear he is the reason my hair is gray! I just pray he's alright... I can't loose him too" At this Finn's eyes filled with understanding. His General had lost a lot, His love, his best friend and now he may almost lose his kid as well. Finn Stood and went to leave the room to give the general some privacy but stopped at the entryway.

"Ronin... The only thing I can say is to pray. Nod will be fine the kid has promise and he has so much to live for. I know he will be alright." With that he left the echoing of footsteps the only sound to Ronin's ears.

* * *

The night sky had come out to greet the worried General when he came out of the changing quarters. Looking around and seeing no one except the night shift leafmen Ronin stripped his self of armor before making his way to the infirmary; hoping progress had been made and that his adoptive son was alright. His thoughts meanwhile had become rampant. '_Why didn't Nod tell me he wasn't feeling alright? Stubborn kid... just like his father...'_ his train of thought diminished as he entered the infirmary and saw Nod in the bed.

It scared him to see the usually, bright, active, free, young teen pale and unconscious on the bed. The crisp white sheets made the lithe teen look even smaller in their confines. Ronin closed his eyes and took a breath as he sat down on a chair next to Nod and took one limp hand into his calloused ones.

"Nod you stubborn fool... Next time your sick tell me..."

"He's as stubborn as his father... and I don't mean just Soren" At the sound of a second voice Ronin Snapped his head towards the Lilac Jinn sitting on a chair in the far corner. Lilabell smiled at the worn looking General and stood to walk over to him. As she did from the corner of her eyes she saw Ronin trace her every step towards Nod. She chuckled,

"Relax Ronin I am not going to hurt him... besides the kids lucky... his fever was way to high to be healthy and if we didn't cool him down when we did he could have died. But he was brought in, in time. God has a way of working..." Lilabell patted the generals shoulder and sat down in the chair next to him.

"Ronin there is one thing I do want to bring up with you... When we were cooling him down I had to have a nurse carry him into the ice water... What startled me was how easily he was picked up.. He was almost as light as a newly hatched hummingbird." At this Ronin could not fight the look of shock that came across his face.

"What? The kids been eating I have made sure of that but..." Ronin thought back to the days when he saw that Nod barely ate more than a young toddler would which was barely a handful of anything.

"These past few weeks he has been eating less than usual." Lilabell frowned the lilac on her head becoming darker as her mind spun with possible scenarios.

"If that is true then maybe it is the sickness he is with right now that is causing this... and maybe the shock of what happened at the boggan battle. We will have to keep an eye on him to make sure. But for now I have him on broth so he can get some nutrients in his system. I should also warn you, the medicine I have to give to those who get this...sickness causes them to become weak for an hour or two" Lilabell sighed, stood and made her way to the door.

"I am heading to bed Ronin, you should go to yours as well... But if you really want to stay I don't mind. Goodnight." Ronin gave a hum in reply and settled his head on the bed before drifting into dreams once forgotten.

It was mid morning by the time Ronin awoke to a low moan coming from the bed in front of him. With a speed that could have impressed the hummingbirds Ronins head snapped to attention on the teenager in front of him.

"Nod?" He reached out to touch the face of his adopted son and instead moved to brush away a limp lock of hair. Another moan rewarded his ears and he smiled knowing that Nod was at least trying to wake up. Brown eyes slowly opened the best they could and snapped shut for a few moments before opening half lidded. Nod slowly began to turn in the direction of Ronin's voice.

"Ronin?" Ronin gave a small huff of air while his mouth went into another smile.

"Yea kiddo its me"

"Uhh I feel like I just went through an army of boggans" Ronin laughed and snorted before squeezing Nod's hand to tell him he was still there.

"Now you know how I felt, only this time your the one in bed not me." Nod smiled weakly before trying to move his head.

"Where am I?"

"Your in the infirmary, apparently you fainted off your hummingbird with a fever... Anything you want to tell me Nod?" Nod chuckled weakly

"Uhh I have a cold?" Ronin frowned and scoffed at the answer before reigning in the long scolding he knew he was going to have to do later when his son was feeling better.

"More than a cold, the Head Nurse said you had a fever that could have most likely killed you if not taken care of and you were as light as a baby bird when Finn brought you in." At this Ronin's gaze turned hard and Nod winced at the expression his father figure was making.

"Okay so I may have been skipping meals these past few weeks and I may have had a slight cold that I neglected. But in my defense I thought it was going to pass!" Nod made an attempt to raise his arm in defense but couldn't lift it high due to the fact that he felt as weak as a newborn. Ronin felt anger at the stupidity of his ward.

"Nod being sick does not excuse skipping meals! And why didn't you tell me you were sick I would have tried to help!" Nod felt his anger demolish any weakness he felt in his body as he sat up.

"Really!? Now you choose to show you care! What happened when you decided to play hero at Wraithwood!? Huh? What then would you leave me too? Why should you even care!" At the end of Nod's rant chest raking coughs littered his abused frame making him stop and lean back into the pillows.

Ronin closed his yes and sighed deeply, the concern and guilt he felt for his son grew greater at the fact that he hadn't been taking close attention to him since Tara died. '_Tara would kill me... no she would slap me upside the head then proceed to mother Nod to death'_ Blue eye's zeroed in on fawn brown with a soft tender expression.

"Nod" At the sound of his caretakers voice Nod bent his head unwilling to meet eyes with the person next to him so that they could see the fear and anger he kept bottled up inside.

"Nod look at me, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling okay? Why didn't you tell me about this" Nod's shoulders began to shake; at this Ronin sat down on the edge of the bed and collected Nod's upper body in his arms. In the safety of Ronin's arms Nod felt his walls break down. The dam was breaking.

"Because I wanted you to be able to mourn without worrying about me... like mom... I d-didn't want you t-to leave me too." Ronin's heart broke at the sound of self-blame and sadness in the young Jinn's voice.

"Dad left me, Mom left me, I was so scared that you would leave me too. Darn it Ronin! I thought I lost you... the only Father I have left... I didn't want you to leave me... please... I'm sorry... I'm sorry" Ronin's eyes shed tears at the pain so deep in the shuddering voice. A hand weakly grabbed his shirt as sobs raked through the lithe frame he held so tenderly against him.

"Nod... I won't ever leave you if I can help it" Ronin took in a deep breath before starting.

"I'm sorry that I made you worry over me at Wraithwood, it was the only way you could get away safely. I won't ever leave you behind on purpose Nod... Not until I die. And trust me that is a long way's away. I ALWAYS care for you Nod even if you don't see it. Why do you think I kept going after when you snuck away all those times?" Nod's muffled reply barely came through to his ears.

" 'Cause I'm your best friends kid" Ronin winced at the once true accusation, yes there was a time when he only looked after Nod because he made a promise to Soren but after a while. Nod really did become his son.

"No, at first yes, BUT I adopted you because when I saw you I saw me. A scared kid who lost everything and needed a father in his life. Nod you were the happiest thing that happened to me do you understand? You are my SON not just my best student or my friends kid... But because you are my SON and I love you no matter what" At this Nod buried his head deeper into Ronin's chest and clutched his fathers shirt like a lifeline. Ronin just held him even as he heard the sobs dye into hiccups and the hiccups into deep breathing. Pressing a kiss against soft brown hair Ronin sighed and leaned his head onto his sons, taking pleasure in the fact that Nod now understood why Ronin adopted him and why he did what he did. Now all he had to do was to make sure the kid got better...

-~~~~~Two Week's Later~~~~~~-

"NOD GET DOWN HERE NOW!" Ronin's voice shook the house as he stood with his arms crossed at the stair well. He waited a few minutes before creasing his eyebrows in suspicion before quietly making his way up the stairs. As he got to the teenagers room he pushed the door open gently and surveyed the area... A clean bed '_surprising...'_ and a clean room with only a few pieces of scattered armor and tack laying around but no Jinn. '_Now where is he-' _ the thought struck him as fast as an arrow as he shot out the door and onto the bird in the nest outside in the barn. As he pushed the bird faster towards Moonhaven Ronin had only one though. '_He is in so much trouble!'_

* * *

"Well it is tru-"

Nod knew something was wrong when Thorin stopped speaking and froze avoiding his eyes from his friends and started to walk away. He felt, rather than heard, Ronin's frustration and anger behind him as he gulped and with wide doe brown eyes turned around and meekly smiled before turning and sprinting a few yards trying to get away until he had to skid to avoid running into Ronin, who somehow had gotten in front of him.

"hehe hey Ronin I was just -!" Nod yelped as he was picked up from behind and trapped between strong arms; cranking his head to see who could have trapped him he was surprised to see it was Finn who for some odd reason had not spoken the entire time he was with Thorin.

"What the-! Let me go!" Ronin chuckled and uncapped the vile of foul smelling medicine.

"Not until you take this" Nod shuddered and writhed as much as his lithe body would allow.

"No, Ronin you know how that stuff reeks and-" a hand forced its way behind his neck and tilted it up as the other hand shoved the foul concoction down his throat. Nod gagged as he felt it slither its way down his throat and groaned as he felt his energy immediately leave him as well as the last signs of the nasty flu he had. He was gently placed into waiting arm's as he felt his body go lax against his wishes. He was brought against a chest that he felt vibrate with chuckles before he reached a hand up to weakly slap the offending sound. Ronin smiled at his sons attempt to fight back.

"Uggg Ronin you know I hate that stuff it zaps my energy like Finn's jokes"

"Hey!" Ronin raised an eyebrow, at the indignant cry of his second in command.

"You know it's true Finn, your jokes do tend to be a better remedy to exhaustion than training" Finn opened his mouth to respond, then stopped his eyebrow twitching from the painful truth of it all. He rolled his eyes and smirked at young Jinn now so hopelessly tired.

"Well at least it worked Ronin, better than last time anyway. Besides isn't this the last time he'll have to take the stuff?" Ronin nodded and shifted his foot so he could settled Nod's head against his shoulder.

"Yes, thank goodness too... this kid is as stubborn-"

"As both of you combined! Now go and get the kid to his bed." Ronin chuckled and nodded at his second in command.

"Will do" As he walked away towards his bird, he felt Nod relax against him, he smiled softly at the teens willing show of affection. As soon as he settled Nod on his humming bird he was off towards the small house that they lived in.

"Ronin... why must I take that foul concotion even though I am fine." Ronin rolled his eyes and flicked the reigns downard towards the house in the near distance.

"Because if I don't it could come back and that would mean more house arrest... and more medicine" They both shivered at the mention of the vile substance. Head Nurse Lilabell made the best and they worked. Only thing was they were potent and tasted of rotten herbs. (A/N Like Robitussin nasty stuff... but it works) A few moments passed before the bird settled down in front of the nesting barn next to the small cottage. Sliding off his bird Ronin grabbed Nod before entering the house and heading up the stairs with the young Jinn. As he entered the slightly messy room he shoved a stray gauntlet off the bed before laying Nod down and straightening up.

Nod turned over as soon as he could and closed his eyes. Ronin looked at him before leaning down and giving a kiss on Nod's forehead. As he turned to leave the room he heard something he never thought he would hear.

"I love you... dad" He stopped shocked before smiling and leaving his hand on the door.

"I love you too... son" With that he closed the door and went down the stairs. The echoing voice of his long lost love entering his mind.

'_There's that smile~'_

**Well Faithful readers! I hope you enjoyed it! I decided to write a story well... its a lot more dramatic than I thought it would be but heeeeyyyyyyy it worked!... I think lol There weren't many Ronin and Nod father son moments, nor were there any Nod is sick scenario ones... or ones where he is injured... Sadly but the movie was funny when I saw it! I liked it :) Now if anyone else is on the same track. When I saw the movie compared to Ronin and other leafmen Nod is SKINNY! like thin thin... to me at least lol it even says on his description that he is lithe sooooo ergo I used it to my advantage and to his disadvantage. Well There is a little button called review that wants to meet you! I hope you enjoyed it! PLEASE review! :)**


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